How to Cook Over an Open Fire

Cooking over an open flame yields superior smoke flavor and a crispier sear. Just make sure you build it big and take it slow. Here are five tips on how to do it right.

Cook next to the fire – not over it.

Set up your cooking grate off to one side of the blaze. "You never want actual flames on your food," Liberman says. "It'll end up tasting like charcoal." When you're ready to cook, shovel or rake glowing red embers over to the zone beneath your grill, creating a hot bed of coals without live flame.